Memorial Day

Last night I got a phone call about the televised national Memorial Day celebration. The caller was upset that the focus was on the Civil War, which led her to believe there was a definite attempt to draw a parallel between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. This led to my thinking about the similarities between the two men, one of which is Lincoln suspended habaes corpus and Obama recently urged Congress to amend the law to allow the indefinite detention of people who are believed to be terrorists. A lot of skilled writers have commented on the Obama comments, and legal minds are working on the issue from a number of persepectives (reminding me that lawyers are not necessarily concerned with justice -- remember, it was lawyers who wrote memos that led to charges of torture)
Sometimes, of late, I wonder if I bought into the myth of American values: rule of law, democracy, freedom, protection of minorities? Perhaps I am just being naive -- considering the history of the country.
Today, last night's conversation came back, as I received a phone call that my 84-year-old father was taken to the hospital very early this morning.
My father and I achieved a friendly relationship over politics, although we approached issues from totally opposing sides. However, one thing he taught me and showed me in our discussions, was his respect for my opinions, different as they were from his (and interestingly enough, what he referred to as more parallel with his own father's politics). Maybe I have to credit dad with instilling those values in me.
So, it's Memorial Day, and my dad, who was in the Army Air Corps in WWII is in the emergency room. I wait by the phone, and think about the personal and the political.
The personal is fact: concern for my dad. The political is a question: an expatriot is someone who chooses to leave their country What is it when you feel your country has left you?